Apollo stared at the glass in front of him, not having anything else to do as he waited for the client to come into the room. He read through both case files before they left, trying to get as clear of a picture of the cases as he could before they arrived at the detention center. But instead of helping him better understand what was going on, it raised even more questions that left him feeling more confused than anything else. He tried to come up with theories and fill in the gaps in evidence to build a case in his head, but there were too many unanswered questions to even know where to start.

But no matter how little progress he made, he continued to focus on the cases. Even if it did nothing to help him build a case for his defense, it at least helped distract him from how close Athena was to him right now.

When they worked on a case together, they both talked to the defendant at the same time. It made it easier when they were both present to hear testimonies rather than trying to relay the information to each other later on. In order for them to both be able to hear and see the defendant, they would set up two chairs right next to each other directly across from the speaker in the glass. They'd done this countless times, so he was used to having Athena sit this close to him during interviews. But this time, he couldn't help but periodically look down to make sure she wasn't close enough to touch him. Since he had nothing else to focus on while they waited for the client, all he could think about was making sure that he didn't have a repeat of earlier.

And he couldn't promise himself that it wouldn't happen again if he found her accidentally touching him again.

Apollo knew he shouldn't feel so nervous about Athena being close enough to touch him; he quickly learned on the day they met how comfortable she was with physical contact. Even if it was a little strange to him at first, him being the type of person who usually kept his distance, it didn't take long for him to get used to it. The longer they worked together, the more he eventually learned that it was just the way she was. He eventually came to expect it from her, and it helped him to be more comfortable around her.

But when he started to develop feelings for her, it no longer felt as simple as that. It wasn't that he was no longer comfortable with it, rather he just had a harder time controlling the way he reacted when she was near him. Having her that close to him would make him more aware of himself and how he was behaving, worrying that something he did might make her notice his feelings, which made him a bit jumpier than he was before. He eventually calmed down when he realized that she didn't notice that anything was different, and things mostly went back to the way they were before.

But there were still times that the circumstances would give him a stronger reaction than what was considered normal. With their current situation, living under the same roof and working together in the same office, he was having a harder time controlling his reactions to her than he ever had before. And he had no better proof of this than when he almost fell out of his seat earlier.

Everything started off normally when they were sitting at his desk watching the security footage together. They'd done things like that ever since they started working together back at the agency, so nothing about it should have been any different than anything they'd done before. They sat near each other fairly often, so accidental contact wasn't out of the ordinary. But this time, when Athena moved closer to the computer to focus on the second piece of footage, it closed the small gap of distance between them, and her knee pressed against the side of his leg, staying that way the entire time the footage was playing. That alone wouldn't have been enough to cause such a reaction out of him, considering that he was mostly used to accidental contact with her by now. But what did was how she seemed to be completely unaware that she was touching him at all. She was normally aware when she was close to him, considering that she usually initiated it on purpose, but the way she had no reaction at all made him wonder if she knew she was even doing it. All he could do was sit there, watching the footage but not able to focus on it as he wondered if he should do something. He considered turning his chair just enough that it would separate them. But if she hadn't been aware of what she was doing, that would certainly be enough to bring her attention to it. He knew it wouldn't have been a problem for her, but it would have made him feel so awkward that he wouldn't have known what to do. So he just sat there, watching the footage and trying to ignore it.

Then, a loud sound played out of the computer's speakers, and his built up nerves shattered, causing him to almost fall out of his seat. After his chair slid across the room, he just sat there, trying to calm back down while Athena stared at him as if she'd just seen a bomb go off. Even if she had no idea of the real reason for his outburst, he was still beyond embarrassed.

But even with him being a little jumpy and not being sure how to react to Athena being unaware of how close she was, he still shouldn't have reacted that way. It made him realize how much stress he was under and how little he was doing to keep it under control. It was like his nerves were under constant tension, and things he was able to take in stride before now made him snap. He always justified how busy he was as the reason he never took any personal time. But it was also because nothing he ever did seemed to be enough to relax him. Even the few times he'd made himself stop working long enough to take a walk and clear his head, it didn't make him feel better or ease his nerves at all. Nothing seemed to relieve the tension he was under, so he eventually stopped trying, choosing to spend all of his time working.

It wasn't until he started talking to Athena again that he realized why he'd been unable to calm his nerves. He started off believing that the only way he could put his all into his new career in Khura'in was to set aside the personal ties he had with the people closest to him, including his feelings for Athena. It was never his intention for this to be goodbye; but he convinced himself that moving away from everyone would be easier if he left his feelings on the back burner and left them there until everything settled enough for him to see everyone again. It didn't take long for him to see that the exact opposite was true; instead of making it easier, keeping them away made it harder to adjust to not having them around. And he didn't realize just how much it was affecting him until he started talking to Athena again. He suddenly went from having no way to handle his stress to feeling more relaxed than he had since he left. It reminded him that, no matter how much he tried to tell himself the opposite, he needed Athena to be a part of his life. She could ease him in a way that no one else had ever been capable of. When she moved here to work with him, it was like he found the piece that was missing, the one thing that he truly needed to face everything ahead of him.

But no matter how much he'd come to accept that having her around was what he needed, it didn't change the fact that he still had to hide his feelings for her, for too many reasons he didn't want to think about right now. And living under the same roof with her made that harder than it ever had been before.

The door on the opposite side of the glass finally opened, and the client came walking into the room. Apollo watched as he walked over to the chair and sat down. He was of small stature, wearing the same big coat, scarf, knitted gloves and hat he wore in the footage. Though it wasn't the most unusual thing he'd ever seen, he did find it a bit strange that the client was wearing such a big coat and scarf when summer had just started. He was slightly hunched over, holding his arms as if he were cold, looking around the room with a look of terror, like he'd just seen a ghost. When he first sat down, he didn't look through the glass at Apollo and Athena. Instead, he stared at the small counter in front of him, hugging himself tightly and visibly shivering. Apollo couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor man.

Apollo exchanged a glance with Athena. She appeared to be as worried about the client as he was, a sympathetic frown on her face. But she gave Apollo a reassuring smile and nodded, encouraging him to start the questioning.

Apollo sat up straight, ready to be professional and keep his head clear. In order to help the client remain calm, he needed to show confidence, no matter what. "Mr. Taim Idly?"

Mr. Idly suddenly tensed up, turning his widened eyes up to look. His eyes darted back and forth between Apollo and Athena, then he stopped shivering and hunched down in his seat. "You… defense… people?"

Apollo nodded. "Yes, we're defense attorneys. I'm Apollo Justice," he said, then gestured toward Athena with his hand, "And this is Athena Cykes. If you would like our help, we'll be happy to defend you in court tomorrow."

Mr. Idly looked back and forth between them again, remaining quiet for a few moments. "They say… defense people come… they say… I need to accept help…" He paused for a moment, then straightened up in his seat and began to shiver again. "I accept help."

Apollo exchanged another look with Athena before he turned back to the client. Now that they'd received confirmation from the client, they were ready to start their investigation. Based on the way the client had been speaking, Apollo realized that English must not have been Mr. Idly's first language. He didn't want to put any more pressure on the poor man if he could help it, so he planned to word his questions the best he could and would change the wording if necessary. Since the case summary had only given so much information, Apollo decided to start by asking the client more about himself. Not only would knowing more about the client help them build a better case, but maybe having Mr. Idly talk about himself might ease his very clearly rattled nerves.

"Please tell us a bit about yourself, Mr. Idly."

Mr. Idly looked down at the counter, continuing to shiver. "Am… Taim Idly. I am from… Gridorla." When he didn't elaborate further, Apollo encouraged him to keep going with another question. "What brings you to Khura'in? Are you here on vacation?"

"Yes…" Mr. Idly started, looking up at Apollo. "Gridorla… very cold. I hear… Khura'in summers… very warm…"

'I guess that explains the big coat and scarf,' Apollo thought. Though it made sense for him to dress that way if he was used to it being cold in his own country, he wondered why he was still dressed that way now that he was in Khura'in, right at the start of summer no less. He asked the client a few more questions, like how long he'd been in the country and where he had been staying. He was hoping it would help Mr. Idly feel a bit more relaxed, but he seemed to be just as afraid as he was when he first walked in. With nothing left to ease the tension, Apollo decided it was time to start asking about the case.

"You visited a resale shop yesterday. Would you please tell us about that?"

Mr. Idly's eyes suddenly widened, then he grabbed the flaps of his hat and slouched down in his seat, shivering harder than ever. "No! Not at resale shop! I tell them! No resale shop! Was not there! Not steal from resale shop! Not there!"

Apollo exchanged a confused look with Athena before he leaned his arms against the counter in front of him and focused on the client. "What do you mean? Are you saying you weren't at the resale shop?"

"No! No resale shop! Not resale shop!" Mr. Idly repeated, still cowering.

"But you were there, Mr. Idly," Apollo started, trying to speak calmly to ease the client's fear. "There's video evidence that you visited the store twice yesterday."

"No! Was not resale shop! Not there!"

Apollo frowned, feeling confused. Why was the client denying he was there, even when he was told there was video evidence that proved that he was? He could have simply been lying. But that was what brought Apollo to the most confusing part of this. Even though the client had to be lying, Apollo's bracelet didn't react. Even with video evidence that the client was lying, he was also telling the truth. 'What's going on?'

"Mr. Idly." Apollo sat up straight and looked toward Athena when he heard her speak. She was looking at the client, calm and straight faced. "Do you have any hobbies?"

Apollo was a little confused. It seemed like a strange question to ask, but he remained quiet and let Athena go ahead. He knew she wouldn't have interjected unless she had a good reason.

Mr. Idly turned his eyes to Athena, still shaking. "Ha...bees?"

"Yes," Athena continued. "Something that you enjoy. Maybe something you do in your free time."

The client was quiet for a moment, then seemed to understand. "I… like… stars…"

"So, you like to watch the stars up in the sky at night?" Athena asked. Though Apollo was still not sure where Athena was going with this, he was impressed at the way she was being so careful with the way she worded things, like she wanted to be sure the client understood what she was trying to ask.

"...Yes. I like to… watch night stars…"

And as Athena continued to speak with the client, asking him to close his eyes and picture the stars, Apollo understood what she was trying to do. The client was under so much stress that he was having a hard time answering their questions, so she was using her psychological knowledge to help him calm down. Helping the client reduce his anxiety by having him distract himself with thoughts of something that made him happy seemed like such an obvious solution. And yet, Apollo knew he never would have thought of it. Even if he had, he never would have handled it as well as Athena was right now. It reminded him that he needed her with him for more than just his own happiness; she was a great lawyer with abilities that he didn't have, making her an invaluable member of the team.

"Now…" Athena said after she asked Mr. Idly to take in a deep breath. "Please tell us everything you did yesterday. Start from the beginning."

As Mr. Idly began recounting his day to them, Apollo was impressed by Athena's psychological abilities. Not only was the client once again sitting up straight in his chair, but he was no longer shivering. He was still hesitating with his words, but he was speaking more clearly than he had since they got here. Apollo already knew Athena was capable of this, but it had been a while since he'd seen it in action, so he forgot how knowledgeable she was on the subject. If Athena hadn't been here, Apollo had no idea how he would have handled this.

"Then… I walk in to store…."

Though Apollo had been listening the whole time, he became more focused when the client started talking about going into the store. Maybe they could finally get some answers that would help them understand what was going on.

"They have… so many items… I not understand..."

"What did you not understand?" Athena asked. Since Athena had managed to get the client's emotions under control, Apollo remained quiet and let her handle the questioning, worried that he might somehow upset the client if he interrupted.

"They selling many items… but… not food."

"Food? You were there to buy food?"

"Yes… but they not sell food…"

"What made you think the store sold food?"

"Words on sign… they say they sell food…"

Apollo didn't understand. Of the small amount of evidence that was given to them, a picture of the store was one of them. And nowhere in the picture, whether it was the store sign or something else, was there any indication that the store was selling food. Resale stores didn't generally sell food in the first place, so this should have been expected. He looked at Athena, finding that she was also looking at him with the same puzzled expression. She was just as lost as he was.

Apollo opened the case file that was sitting on the counter in front of him and picked up the picture of the store. He held it up to the glass for the client to see. "Mr. Idly, is this the store you visited yesterday?" The client looked at the photo for a few moments before nodding. "Yes. That is store I go to."

"Will you please tell me where on this picture you see that the store was selling food?"

The client slouched in his chair slightly, like he felt that he was being put on the spot. "It say… in words on sign."

"Which words?" Apollo asked. He spoke as calmly as he could, trying to help the client remain calm. "Will you please read the exact words?"

Mr. Idly started slouching further in his chair and shivering again. He was silent for a moment before he answered. "Resale. It say resale."

Apollo blinked, then stared at the client in disbelief. 'But resale stores don't sell food.' Apollo lowered the picture and just sat there, his mind drawing a blank. He felt like he was no closer to understanding than he was before. He couldn't imagine why the client thought a resale store was selling food. Even if he did understand, he didn't know how that was going to help their case. He started wondering if maybe they should just drop this and talk about something else. After all, he had no idea where to go from here.

"Mr. Idly." Apollo looked at Athena again as she spoke. He found her watching the client again with a calm expression. Had she thought of something? If she had, Apollo couldn't even begin to guess what it could be. He was drawing a complete blank. "When you want to buy food when you're back home in Gridorla, what kind of store do you go to?"

The client only hesitated for a moment before he answered. "Resale. At resale store."

"Hey, Apollo," Athena said, and Apollo turned to look at her. "I think I might have an idea."

"Really?" Apollo said, turning in his chair to face her. Even if she only had an idea, it was more than he had at the moment, so he was all ears. "What is it?"

"Well…" Athena started. She sounded like she wasn't completely confident, but he still wanted to hear it. "Earlier when he was insisting that he wasn't at the resale shop… was he lying?"

Apollo realized that she was asking if his bracelet reacted. "No, he wasn't. There wasn't a reaction." He frowned. "Which is why I'm so confused right now."

A half smile appeared on her face, like the answer was helpful. "It's hard to say, since he still seems to be learning English… but I don't think he was insisting that he wasn't at the shop. I think he was just trying to insist that it wasn't a grocery store."

Apollo just stared at her, like he had no idea what she was talking about. "...Well… maybe because it isn't a grocery store…" He thought that much was obvious.

"But that leaves the question, 'Why did he think it was'?"

Apollo thought about it for a moment. The best idea he could come up with wasn't a good one, but it was all he had, so he told her what he was thinking. "… Maybe in Gridorla, resale shops do sell food?"

"Maybe," Athena said. "Or maybe, the word for 'grocery' in his language sounds like the English word 'resale'. So, every time the client was saying 'resale,' maybe he thought he was saying 'grocery'."

Apollo sat up straight as the idea clicked in his head. "Yeah, you're right. That would explain why he was so upset when we kept insisting he was in a resale store. He thought we were insisting that he was at the 'grocery' store."

Athena smiled. "Yeah! I think that might be it."

Right before Apollo could start feeling relieved that they were getting somewhere, he suddenly realized; how does that help? How does knowing that the client walked into a resale shop thinking it was a grocery store help them build their defense at all?

"But…" Apollo started, wanting to voice his concerns to Athena. "Even if that's true… how does that help us?"

Athena didn't hesitate to answer, as if she'd already thought of something before he even asked. "Well, the case summary claims that the defendant's first visit to the store was to find valuable items to steal later in the day. And that might make sense if he knew it was a resale store. But, if we can show that he actually went in thinking it was a grocery store, we might be able to prove that casing the store for valuables wasn't his goal at all. It would weaken the accusation that stealing was his goal in the first place."

Apollo paused as he ran the idea through his head. He could think of some reasons that it might not be the most helpful thing, but bringing it up as a possibility might help break down the prosecution's case. At the very least, it was something. And before this, they had nothing. Even if it wasn't much, it was a start.

But they needed more than that. It would take more than this to prove that he was innocent, so their job was far from over.

They continued their questions, asking him to continue telling them everything he did that day. He talked about how he went to the cashier to ask why the store wasn't selling food, and how the cashier became irritated and told him they didn't sell food. At least that told them what the conversation in the security video was about, but it didn't seem very helpful. After the client left the store, he went back to his hotel room. Later that evening, he realized his wallet was missing. He had no idea how long it was gone because he didn't even notice it was missing till he got back to the hotel. He searched his room for it, but it never turned up. Apollo wasn't sure if this was even an important thing to note.

That was, until the client said that he received a call later that evening. The caller was the owner of the resale shop, who went on to tell Mr. Idly that his wallet was found on the shop floor after he left. The client was given a time he could come pick up the wallet and then they hung up. That alone wouldn't have been strange. But what didn't make sense was the time given; instead of asking the client to come and retrieve his wallet the following day during business hours, he was told to come late that evening after the store had closed. No matter which way Apollo tried to look at it, it didn't make sense.

"What happened when you went back to the store that evening?" Apollo asked, placing his hands on his knees and leaning forward. He didn't even need to question if the client went back to the store like he was asked; the second piece of security footage proved that he had. And of the two pieces of footage, the second, the supposed time of the theft, was the one that left the most unanswered questions. Maybe with the client's testimony, they could finally understand why he was accused of stealing the statue even though he was clearly carrying nothing when he fled the scene.

But instead of answering the question, Mr. Idly suddenly went still. He stared forward like he was watching something in the distance, staying completely silent. Before Apollo could ask him what was wrong, the client suddenly grabbed the flaps of his hat and slouched down in his chair, shivering harder than ever.

"Mr. Idly?" Apollo asked in a louder voice than he meant to. "What happened? What did you see?"

The client continued to stare at nothing, shivering harder as the seconds passed. Apollo waited, worried that if he said anything he might scare the client further.

"...Gold…"

"Gold?" Apollo asked, now on the edge of his seat. He was desperate to get more information. With how thin their case was, he worried if they didn't learn more, they would go to court tomorrow with nothing to back up their defense. "You saw something gold? What was it?"

The client was quiet for a few moments before he continued, speaking in a voice so quiet that Apollo could barely hear. "...Gold… sign… of… death…"

Apollo sat back in his chair, suddenly feeling surprised. He exchanged a surprised look with Athena, then he opened the case file and picked up the picture of the golden statue that was stolen. He held it up to the glass for the client to see. "Is this the gold thing that you saw?"

As soon as the client laid eyes on the picture, he pulled his hat down over his face and cowered, shaking harder than ever. "No, no, no…" he repeated.

Apollo put the picture down and concentrated on the client. "No? Do you mean this statue isn't what you saw? Or is there some reason you don't want to look at it?" Apollo wanted to make sure he understood what the client was trying to say, not wanting to repeat the same misunderstanding when they were talking about the resale shop.

The client peaked out from under his hat, his eyes full of terror. "No… no more talking… I say no more..."

Even after Apollo tried to get the client to tell them what was going on, he refused to speak. Before Athena could even try to calm him down, the door behind the glass opened and the client was called away for questioning, leaving Apollo and Athena no choice but to end the interview.

Athena sat back in her chair, one of her arms resting on the chair arm and her other arm on her leg, staring down at the case file on Apollo's desk. Apollo was sitting in his own chair right next to hers, leaning his elbow against one of the chair arms while the palm of his hand held up his chin, staring at the same file with a thoughtful V creasing his brow. After Mr. Idly refused to speak anymore, they had no choice but to continue their investigation elsewhere. They started by going to the resale shop, hoping to speak to the store owner and get a better idea of what happened. But they had so little to show for it that they were almost feeling like they might as well not have gone at all. The store owner was there, but he refused to talk to them. He was very irate, saying that he'd already been up all night and day speaking to the police and was done talking about the case. He said they were welcome to stay as customers, but if they brought up the case with him again, he would kick them out. So the best they could do was look around the store, not sure what else to do. At the end of it, they only learned two things that they hadn't known before. The first was that the cashier in the security footage and the store owner were the same person. The second was getting a slightly better layout of the store. The right corner of the store wasn't visible in the footage, so they took a look, finding that there was a door leading to a storage room in the back. The store owner told them that much before he threatened to make them leave, so that was all they had to show for their trouble.

With nothing left for them to investigate, they came back to the office and settled in to Apollo's desk, reviewing what little evidence they had, re-watching the security footage and discussing any theories they might have come up with. Though they'd come up with some ideas and managed to build a better defense than they had when they started, they still didn't have much more than their original idea. Though it wasn't much, the start of their defense was going to be breaking down the idea that the defendant's first visit to the store was to case it for valuables. At some point after they'd returned to the office, Athena did some research on the client's native language and managed to find that her theory was right; the English word 'resale' sounded almost exactly like the word for 'grocery' in the client's language. She printed it out to add to their evidence and then they settled in to start building their case.

And now, out of ideas, they both just sat and stared at the case file, both trying to come up with more things to say or do, but coming up with nothing. They were going to have to go into court with a weak defense, leaving them to depend on the evidence and testimonies that came up during the trial. Though they'd done their best to prepare, they'd mostly have to wing it.

Though Athena was feeling a bit dejected with how little progress they'd made, she decided not to let it get to her. It wasn't like they'd never gone into court less than prepared; in reality, most of the cases they took on were like this. And they always found the truth in the end, because they believed in their client. When the circumstances seemed dire like this, it could be easy to forget that sometimes. But no matter how bad things looked, she was going to go forward with the same confidence she always had. Not just because it was the right thing to do, but also because she needed to keep her spirits up in order to be useful to Apollo.

And with the way he sat there, frowning at nothing and looking like he had the world on his shoulders, she thought it was time to remind him that they were going to be fine.

"Hey! What's with the frown, Mr. Worrywart?" she said, sitting up straight in her chair and placing her hands on her knees. Apollo lifted his head to look at her and she gave him a bright smile. "We've won cases a lot more complicated than this one. As long as we believe in Mr. Idly, we'll do just fine."

Though he still looked like he was thinking too hard, her reassurance at least made the frown on his brow disappear. "Yeah, you're right." He sat up straight in his chair and reached for the folders on his desk. "I'm gonna enter these into the computer then make sure they're organized for tomorrow."

"Okay," Athena said, getting out of her seat. "I'll keep entering digital backups for the old files while you do that."

"No, you take a break," he said without looking away from his computer. "We've been working all day so you just relax for a while."

She frowned and just watched him as he started entering the case files into the computer. On one hand, she didn't want to disrespect the fact that, despite their agreement to treat their current situation the same way they had back at the agency, he was her boss and had the right to tell her when to stop working. On the other, there was no way she could just take a break while he continued to work. It wasn't like she was the only one who had worked all day; if anything, he needed the break more than she did. Instead, he was planning to continue to work even after her shift was over. It further proved what she already knew; he was taking no time to relax, which left his nerves to build and make him a nervous wreck. And she'd already vowed to do everything she could to help him break away from that. She was here to share the workload with him, so she didn't want him to continue thinking he had to do everything on his own.

"That's okay, I can keep going," she said. He turned from the computer to look at her, and she smiled brightly at him. "I could work all night."

The serious look on his face disappeared, and he watched her as his expression became increasingly confused. His eyes moved to his desk and back to her, like he was torn in what he should say. "Well…" he started, still looking like he was lost and not sure what to do. He straightened up a little bit when he seemed to come up with an idea. "It's dinner time, right? Why don't you go do that and we'll go from there."

"Sure!" Athena smiled. As long as she was doing something that helped, she would take any task she was given. She thought it was about time she familiarized herself with meal preparation anyway. Since they'd agreed to get takeout last night as a way of celebrating her arrival, she had yet to make anything here. And since she was used to just taking care of herself, she wanted to get an idea of what it would take to prepare food for more than just one person. "Do you have any requests?"

Apollo stared at her, looking like he didn't understand. "...Huh?"

"Requests!" Athena smiled. "Is there anything in particular you want me to make?"

Apollo's eyes suddenly widened and he stared at her like he'd just seen a ghost. She wasn't sure what made him start panicking like that, but she kept smiling at him, hoping it would help him relax while she waited for him to answer. He was quiet for a few moments before he finally cleared his throat. "I… meant just you."

Athena couldn't help but frown. She'd assumed he was giving her a different task to do because he wanted her to take a break from the desk work, but in reality he was trying to give her a break without taking one himself. It was possible he might take a breather later on, but she doubted it. With how high strung he'd been lately, she was sure he planned to work for the rest of the night. She knew there was little she could do about that; if he wanted to work all evening, she couldn't really stop him. But, even if he wanted her to stop desk work for now, that didn't mean she couldn't help in other ways. If he wanted her to take a food break, she saw no reason she couldn't make the most of it and make something for everyone. She smoothed out her frown and gave him a reassuring smile. "Why would I do that? If I'm gonna make something anyway, why not make enough for everyone?"

He still sat there, seeming unsure. When he didn't answer after a minute, Athena put her hands on her hips and smiled wider. "How about curry? We already have everything we need for it." She hoped that whatever hang-ups he still had would go away if she enticed him with his favorite dish.

He remained quiet for a few moments before he seemed to calm down. He still looked a little unsure, but at least whatever was making him panic seemed to be resolved. "Uh… sure."

"Great!" Athena smiled, glad she was able to convince him. "I'll get right to it!"

Before she went to the kitchen to prepare, she first went to her room to change her clothes. She rarely got anything on herself when she was cooking, but she never liked to risk getting something on her suit. And since she was already in the habit of changing into casual wear after she was done with work anyway, she saw no reason not to change her clothes. After she changed into jeans and a t-shirt, she left her room and headed for the kitchen. She noticed Apollo watching her as she walked by his desk, so she smiled and waved at him. He suddenly stiffened and turned his attention to his computer, looking like someone who'd just been caught doing something they weren't supposed to. Chuckling to herself over how easy it was to get a reaction out of him, she went to start her task.

It didn't take her long to get settled in to her task, absentmindedly preparing everything and letting her mind wander. When she moved here, her plan was to help Apollo in every way she could, both as a lawyer and a friend. She was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen, no matter what it entailed. But she had to admit that this wasn't one of the things she'd imagined herself doing. It wasn't that she wasn't willing to do things like this; she wouldn't have volunteered or been so adamant about Apollo letting her do it if she didn't want to. She just never imagined this being one of the things she would help him with because she didn't know they would be living together. She already knew there would be unforeseen challenges when she agreed to live with him, and this was just one of the many that would undoubtedly come up in the future.

Before she knew it, everything was ready and she went to get Apollo to take a break and join her.

When she started heading back out into the main room, she stopped when she reached the kitchen entryway. She stood there, watching him as he sat at his desk, his back to her and oblivious to her presence. As she watched him, hunched over his desk while he sorted through a pile of papers, she felt a sting in her chest. How many nights had he spent like this? How many times did he stay at his desk, working without pause when he should be resting? It reminded her how high strung he was and how jumpy he'd been lately. In truth, she noticed that he was jumpier than usual ever since she first arrived. But she already knew he was under a lot of stress, what with everything going on and all the new challenges they were facing in living and working together. But she hadn't known just how stressed he was until she saw the way he behaved earlier in the day. Even for him, jumping at every little thing that happened wasn't normal. It made her more determined than ever to do what she could to ease his nerves and raise his spirits. And that was exactly what she'd been doing ever since she arrived.

The only problem was, she'd been holding herself back. Before she even arrived here, she already planned to treat him the same way she always had, believing there was no better way for her to be there for him. But, in order to show some professionalism and show him that she respected the fact that he was her boss, she felt like she had to refrain from hugging him, believing it might be going too far. But now, the notion seemed completely ridiculous. After everything they'd been through together, after how close they'd grown to be after all this time, she didn't know why she ever thought there was a need to change anything in the first place. It made no difference that their professional roles were different now; they were still best friends. No matter which way she looked at it, there was never any reason for them to treat each other any differently than they ever had. And after she saw how upset he was earlier, how much it bothered him when he felt like more was expected of him now that he was in a leadership position, she knew that he felt the same way. He'd also been feeling like he needed to behave differently, thinking that more was required of him now that he was her boss. And after she'd assured him that he didn't need to feel that way and nothing needed to change, he looked happier than he had since she got here.

So now, it was time for her to take her own advice. She didn't know why she ever felt the need to make anything different between them. There was never a need for that in the first place. They didn't need to change in order to face the things ahead; they were already prepared for everything ahead just the way they were. That had already been proven time and time again in the past where, no matter what they were up against, no matter what hardships they'd had to face, their friendship stood strong before it all. Even when they both tried to put unnecessary limitations on themselves, they both fell right back into the way they were before. Nothing had to change. Even when they tried, they fell right back into the same.

And the fact that she was still holding herself back was the final thing remaining that kept it from falling right back into place. With no more doubts in her mind, she saw no better time to start than right now.

She rushed forward and, without hesitation, suddenly wrapped her arms around him from behind while he was still sitting in his chair. She squeezed him firmly, resting her chin on his shoulder with the side of her face up against his ear, tackling him into the first hug she'd given him since he left.

"Gotcha!" she exclaimed playfully.

She knew she'd succeeded in catching him off guard when he let out a startled yelp. She could see his face out of the corner of her vision, his eyes bugging out and his mouth hanging open in surprise. Though she normally just hugged him whenever the mood struck, catching him off guard was her favorite way to do it. He always had the best reactions, and she could never get enough of the surprised look on his face. She didn't realize until now just how much she missed this, how much it meant to her to hold him again. She closed her eyes and hugged him closer, her face flushing as her heart rate increased to a flutter.

Now, with the last of her doubts behind her and nothing holding either of them back, she felt like everything was back to normal.

Finally deciding to give him a break, Athena released her grip on him and straightened up. "It's ready!" she said, smiling at the back of his head. She patted his back gently. "Come on! The paperwork can wait." After a moment, he finally turned in his seat, looking at her with surprise still on his face. She just smiled at him, waiting for him to acknowledge that he'd heard what she said. He eventually mumbled a quiet 'Okay,' and he followed her into the kitchen.

They brought their food to the other half of the main room, the side opposite the one where their desks were set up. Though this area was set up as a meeting place for clients, it also doubled as a living room for the apartment. There were three couches all surrounding a coffee table that sat in the middle, and a TV was set up on a small entertainment center against the wall opposite the front door. They sat facing each other on opposite couches where they spent the rest of their evening enjoying their dinner and enjoying each other's company. They sat comfortably and shared the same casual back and forth that they always had. The peaks of anxiety in Apollo's voice had started off high, but the longer the evening went on, the more the peaks lowered until it all but disappeared. He looked more relaxed than he had since she got here, the frown that never seemed to leave his brow nowhere in sight. She even managed to get another genuine smile out of him when she told him a story that made him laugh. This was exactly what she wanted. This was why she'd agreed to come here in the first place. To be there for him in every way she could, and to give him the comfort that he clearly needed.

And it wasn't until now that she realized how much she needed it, too.

Chapter Song – 'Down for the Ride' - Slaves